Album Review: Acid King Take Us to the "Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere"

Album Review: Acid King Take Us to the "Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere"

Genre : Rock

Type: News

Author : Super Admin

Date : Tue, 07 Apr 2015

Acid King were there at the beginning. You go all the way back to 1993 when American stoner rock or hesher metal or whatever you want to call it began over here, they were lighting up the Bay Area with their own brand of sludged-out psychedelic heavy that entranced and engaged all at once. These days everybody from Ghost B.C. to High on Fire carries this torch, but Acid King were among the first to light it for the underground scene. Their influence permeates too, as they’ve been featured in numerous genre books and their presence can be felt even in just listening to the riffs of those to follow.

This year, Acid King returns with Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere—their first studio album since 2005’s Acid King III. The group singer and axe-slinger Lori S., drum basher Joey Osbourne, and bassist Mark Lamb deliver an eight-track opus worthy of the genre’s canon. If you’ve never heard the band, picture Sleep driven by a siren’s robust roar instead of Matt Pike’s growl. There’s a heavenly heaviness at the heart of what Lori does, and it makes the likes of “Silent Pictures” and “Coming Down from Outer Space” blissfully sludgy.

Guitars, bass, and drums practically look the listener in an elegant embrace on “Infinite Skies” and “Center of Everywhere.” At the same time, this never feels like a throwback or mere nostalgia. Lori and Co. inject an unbridled energy and ferocity into this carefully composed mix. It’s a delicate balance that so many artists in the genre can’t necessarily grasp though. Acid King literally rule this realm, exhaling a deep haze that’s as heavy as it is hypnotic.

The tracks flow into each other, coalescing upon one definitive vision of what Acid King is now. If you like heavy music, even in the slightest, or have any interest in the canon of post-Black Sabbath stoner rock, you’ll want to dive right into the heart of the phenomenal Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere. This is a downright perfect album.